Sewa-III HEP stuck between files and floods
*Fresh DPR exercise begins, approval sword still hanging
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Nov 3: Twelve years have proved too short a period for the Power Development Department to restore even a small 9 Mega Watt (MW) Hydroelectric Project (HEP)—Sewa-III, a run-of-river scheme on Ravi River in village Mashka of Basohli in Kathua district.
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The project was taken up for execution in 1993 and commissioned on June 25, 2002. Once seen as a modest but vital contributor to the region’s renewable energy supply, the project has remained non-functional since 2013, when torrential rains and floods severely damaged the inspection road and water conductor between RD 2360-2515 meters. The collapse left a major portion hanging and unsafe, forcing the power house to shut down indefinitely.
A Detailed Project Report (DPR) for restoration was entrusted to Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, which finally submitted its findings in 2022, nearly nine years after the initial damage, estimating a restoration cost of Rs 66.43 crore.
However, when the proposal reached the Board of Directors of the J&K State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC) in its 84th meeting held in March 2023, the matter was deferred, adding yet another layer of delay to an already long saga of bureaucratic stagnation.
To make matters worse, fresh torrential rains in August 2025 inflicted further extensive damage to the project’s components, worsening the situation and inflating the potential cost of revival.
Only recently, under directions from the Government of J&K, JKSPDC along with the Planning, Development & Monitoring Department through CITAG (Centre for Innovation and Transformation in Governance) started the process of reviving the project through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode for 20 years. IIT Roorkee has been re-engaged to update the DPR and evaluate project assets, with submission expected by ending current month.
Yet, the revival plan remains trapped in procedural formalities—subject to approvals, appointment of a Transaction Advisor and eventual partner selection.
“The DPR to be updated for execution under Public Private Partnership subject to the approval of the competent authority”, said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is also Minister Incharge Power Development Department, in the recently concluded session of the Legislative Assembly.
“If the Power Development Department doesn’t intend to restore this project, then why is it wasting time and resources by engaging IIT Roorkee for updating the DPR?” sources asked, adding, “instead of repeatedly deferring the decision on the project’s restoration, the Board of Directors of the Power Development Corporation should take a clear call-either proceed seriously with its restoration or formally scrap it once and for all”.
“For a region struggling with chronic power shortages, the failure to restore even a 9 MW project in 12 years stands as a striking example of how lack of urgency continue to paralyze infrastructure revival in Jammu and Kashmir”, sources remarked, adding “what could have been a small but steady contributor to local power generation has instead turned into a symbol of systemic inefficiency, where even a decade-long window is not enough to light up a project once hailed as a milestone for the region’s energy development”.
Meanwhile, there is inordinate delay in providing up to 200 units of free electricity per month to the beneficiary households in the Union Territory of J&K due to procedural timelines involved in preparing Detailed Project Reports (DPRs), finalizing tenders and implementing Utility-led Aggregation (ULA) model.
The Government, with much hype, had announced that 200 units of free electricity will be provided to all AAY households, integrated with PM Surya Ghar-Muft Bijli Yojana. This was to be implemented through the ULA model.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has granted in-principle approval for ULA model under PMSG-MBY and under this scheme, Rooftop Solar (RTS) systems have been proposed for 2,22,564 AAY households with each system having a capacity of 2 KW.
The DPRs and the tendering process for installation of RTS systems are currently under preparation in the respective DISCOMs and once commissioned, the RTS system will provide up to 200 units of free electricity per month to the beneficiary households. However, no time-frame has been specified for the completion of this exercise.
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